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My wide eyes snap back up. “W-what—”
“It’s okay. You just stay there and be pretty. We’ll take care of convincing your dad.”
He grabs my long hair and pulls me until my knees crash against the dusty rundown carpet.
“Take a deep breath, Elisabeth.” The flash comes back on and the next second, my head is plunged into the iced water.
I choke on it, full gulps invading my throat from the shock. The coldness rings in my ears, putting pressure on my brain and making me feel like my head is going to explode.
My body is tensing as I try to fight my bonds in vain.
It feels like an eternity when he finally pulls me back up. I choke on air as I try to bring it into my burning lungs. My whole body is on fire, and I’m shaking so hard my teeth are chattering.
The flash is so harsh in my eyes my head rears back. But the leader’s grip on my hair is tight.
I keep coughing as he hisses, “Ask your daddy for help, Elisabeth.”
When I don’t, he forces my head back into the bucket. I’m a little more prepared this time, and my lips stay sealed until my body spasms from the cold and the lack of air. Water gets into my nose and he brings me back up only for me to cough some more.
“S-stop!” I retch.
“Why don’t you tell him to make it stop, huh? It’ll only cost him two point four million dollars.”
I don’t. That would make me weak, and my father didn’t raise me to be weak.
My head is pushed back into the freezing water. I don’t thrash around this time. I keep my eyes and mouth shut and let the cold burn my face. And because I don’t fight, he holds my head in there long enough for me to feel the darkness enveloping me.
When he pulls me back out, I’m barely able to breathe. Everything around me is dark, and my muscles are so weak I fall back against his legs.
“Two point four million, Senator.” I’m assuming he’s talking to the camera now. “We’ll give you ten hours before we start playing new games with her.”
The flash disappears, and I know they’re not recording anymore. The leader pushes me back onto the bed and one of them puts something on the floor next to me. A clock.
“Here. Just so you can judge for yourself how much your dad gives a shit or not. Count the minutes.”
They all leave the room as I look at the time. It’s four a.m.
I’m so cold. My muscles spasm and my entire body is shivering. I cry as I attempt to breathe, and oxygen feels like needles in my throat and lungs. A sob wracks my chest and I’m glad none of them is here to see it. These men will not see me break.
Because if they do, my father will break me harder.
As time passes, my eyes only open to check the clock next to me. I watch minutes turn into hours without any of them coming back. Four a.m. becomes eight a.m., and I notice the winter morning light passing past the wooden panels blocking the window.
My mind is awake but so foggy. My eyes are closed when I hear them walk back in. My hair is still damp, but the rest of my body has dried.
“I have good and bad news, Elisabeth,”hisvoice spreads into the room, crashing against the walls and punching me in the stomach. It’s so heavy and dark. It’s perfectly manly in every sense of the term, and yet I hate it so much.
He comes to the mattress, and from lying on my side, all I can see right now are his shins in front of me. I don’t want to look up into his eyes again. I don’t want to see the nightmarish ski mask that will haunt me forever.
The fact that I still haven’t seen their faces tells me I’m going to make it out alive, although I’m not even sure I want to right now. My body is weak, my mind giving up. The thirst is the worst. I keep coughing, feeling like there’s sand in my dry throat.
I close my eyes when I feel him lower himself to his haunches.
Breathe, I hear my dad’s voice.Keep control of yourself because that’s all you have control of.
“The good news is you’ve just survived ten hours since almost being drowned in icy water.”
A shiver hurts my back as it crosses my muscles. His hand is in my hair, caressing the blonde strands. His words are a contrast to his gesture. “The bad news is your daddy hasn’t given us the money. And now we have to hurt you some more.”
